Arena Let's get it on!: The Mixed Martial Arts Discussion Thread

Rooting for Fedor tonight, like old times

 

oooh @heels1785 Bellator is on CBS and Mauro is on the call!

 

Seeing all those legends in the ring, to salute their colleague one last time. Wow. That's what a dignified legacy looks like. Props to Bellator for making a great sports moment that transcends the sport, and humbles their much bigger, but maybe less dignified competitor.

 

Especially getting it on CBS. No bigger stage than that.

 

Cruz and Bisping are subbing for Rogan and DC in the commentary booth for 284.

 

So Islam retained his title, but it seems like it was a war last night.

 

It was a great fight. Kind of left me with an empty feeling though.

Islam seemed like despite the fact that he won, it’s clear that he’s not Khabib. He seemed very beatable last night. Volk going for double champ is amazing and he fought an incredible fight. If he had won it would’ve been a top 10 MMA performance all time in my opinion.

Yair vs Volk will be amazing but if Volk beats Yair, he should definitely move back up to fight for the LW belt again. Islam needs to defend it at least twice though. It never sat right with me that as soon as he won he fought someone out of the division.

 

Watched it last night, a spectacular, tenacious effort from Volk, but I believe Islam earned the win. His wrestling was the deciding factor, although Volk was making strides against it in the 5th. I agree that both men should defend their belts more before facing each other again.

As to the pound-for-pound discussions I’ve been seeing elsewhere, I think this fight more than anything else proved just how deeply subjective and ultimately ephemeral such rankings are.

 

I mean they have to be subjective, they can’t have the weight classes fight each other. Lol

 

Well yeah, but that’s what’s funny about this time, they actually did

 

Was a new star born in the Andrade/Blanchfield match last night?

 

@Juliet316 Maybe? Blanchfield certainly look the part as I saw the replay (had to help my wife with the school family winter dance as nothing like spending your Saturday Nite in a elementary school gym followed by helping with the winter dance at the high school I teach at next Saturday LOL!) but Andrade took that fight last minute and was looking past her. Big mistake obviously! If Erin wins her next fight which I definitely assume it be another step up in terms of competition, yes definitely I say she is a budding star.

 

Blanchfield is a monster and she has a very real chance to beat Shevchenko.

She deserves a title match next simply because Shevchenko has beaten the rest of the top fighters. She’s young, a ground master, and doesn’t fear anyone.

 

Some interesting perspective on Francis’ status as a free agent, and the significance of his epic return to the ring, which I believe must happen eventually. Only one man - Fedor - was able to seize this lineal title without stopping his opponent, and he went on to hold longer than all others:

 

Now here’s something you don’t see every fight week, iirc, Rousey was attached to this project at one point

 

Wow, another dazzling finish from “Nomad”, I really like this guy

 

Down goes Bullet.

Wow. Great fight but man does this delay BLANCHFIELD’S title shot now.

 

Viva Mexico!!!!

Valentina says she wants the immediate rematch. I’m usually reluctant to approve them, but in this case I believe she has earned it by her dominant reign. Will she get it though? My guess would be no . . .

Hard to not fall in love with Grasso, so much courage and passion in her boxing, and such a lovely person. I hope she has a long reign as champ

 

Bones wins again, and makes it look effortless. Spent ten minutes building up his adrenaline via walkout, so he’s still exasperated during post-fight interview, cuz it hasn’t even dumped yet.

Stipe looks like he wants to fight tomorrow . . .

 

lol Gane sucks. Ngannou would wipe the floor with that John clown. Francis leaving is prob the only reason he decided to go to heavyweight.

 

Gane doesn’t suck.

It’s a timing thing. Gane is an excellent striker who came along at a time in the UFC where the heavyweight is the weakest it’s been in more than a decade. The division as a whole sucks. Therefore, no one could stop Gane except Francis, who was at the top of the division.

Jon has years more experience than Gane fighting overall better fighters than Gane. Add to that the fact that Gane has a glaring hole in his game: grappling and he, clearly, hasn’t fixed it nor will he anytime soon.

Kudos to Jon for the win and there’s maybe… mayybbeee like 1 guy, Sergey Pavlovich (I think Stipe is way past his prime and even he admitted that his heart may not be in it anymore) who can give him trouble in the division. Jon’s skillset is too versatile and these heavyweights haven’t experienced high level competition on a consistent basis.

The equivalent would be… if you took the Alabama football team and put them in the NFC south right now. They could probably win because the division is in complete disarray.

 

Alabama would lose something like 60-0 against any NFL team. Period.

And Gane sucked big time.

 

*Deep sigh*

 

Hmm…. Losing to arguably the greatest fighter of all time means you suck? That’s a hot take. A dumb one too.

 

Cyril Gane is no slouch, but Jon is just that good. He has always been a calculating fighter, an expert at identifying and exploiting his opponents’ weaknesses under the tutelage of master Jackson. The heavyweight division has always been unbalanced, the place where men can get farther on a particular technique more than any other. Jon is primed to dominate. I believe he will fight Francis eventually, at which point all questions will finally be settled.